MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER

There was a time when I spent a lot of energy trying to convince myself that I liked Weather Report. It seemed as aif you couldn't call yourself a jazz afficionado if you didn't. Duuude...Weather Report's like a jazz supergroup! Joe Zawinul! Wayne Shorter! Frickin' Jaco, man - JACO!!! My reaction now (and then - had I been honest enough to admit it) is an unqualified "Meh."

I think Wayne Shorter probably deserves the lion's share of the blame in this regard. So many of his compositions seem to rely heavily on staccato bursts of notes at irregular intervals. In short (Ha!) listening to a Wayne Shorter piece is akin to listening to a popcorn maker or a bug zapper.

Not everyone shares this opinion, obviously. I saw Branford Marsalis sneak this tune in on Leno while going to a commercial break.

Hey! Stencil Guy left us some room on page two! Let's see if we can squeeze something in there. I dunno, "My Little Boat", maybe? Ah, perfect.